Gov. Rick Perry's departure from the presidential race on Thursday touched off the most tumultuous day yet of the 2012 election cycle.

In an abruptly announced morning news conference, Perry said he had decided that there was "no viable path forward" for him as a presidential candidate. "The journey leads me back to Texas, neither discouraged nor disenchanted," he said, "but instead rewarded highly by the experience, and resolute to remain in the arena and in the service of my country."

Perry, flanked by his wife and son, said he had decided to endorse Newt Gingrich ...

Comment Policy

The Texas Tribune is pleased to provide the opportunity for you to share
your observations about this story. We encourage lively debate on the issues
of the day, but we ask that you refrain from using profanity or other
offensive speech, engaging in personal attacks or name-calling, posting
advertising, or wandering away from the topic at hand. To comment, you must
be a registered user of the Tribune, and your user name will be displayed.
Thanks for taking time to offer your thoughts.

A DeMint defense decries deception. Bigotry and prejudice are alive in 2012! Newton Leroy called Barack Obama the "Food Stamp President! Continuing with 'poor people should want paychecks, not handouts.' In South Carolina, the center of bigotry and discrimination in the South as they still fly the Confederacy flag makes one wonder about the region. Gingrich said this on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! He used the word "Liberals" in his statement which has infuriated many blacks in that state. His tactic in South Carolina smacks of the type of rhetoric used in his "Southern Strategy" and his "bread and butter" wordage bordering on racism. This candidate started a confrontational debate tonight when confronted with his second wife's allegation of his request for an "Open Marriage"! Gingrich, being from Georgia, continues his stereotyping of blacks in his speeches. Gingrich called for the sanctity of marriage in the Clinton impeachment era. "Despicable" is talking about the sanctity of marriage and then asking for a divorce from a woman getting radiation therapy for cancer. Santorum seconded the the continued stereotyping of blacks in his speeches with "I don't to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money." Every TEA-GOP-Republican knows their oratory wording can make or break them depending on which state they are stumping and even the area of that state. They are all career politicians. Total vet career politicians!

I shudder at thoughts of what Gingrich's vision of transformation might amount to ....these personal "tidbits" he diminishes are scary...ditching one wife with cancer, another with MS, having a 6 year affair while holding Clinton to task in the presence of Congress...shouldn't he be impeached for willful hypocrisy

LATINOS FOR HONEST GOVERNMENT Juan Reynoso's Blog - TeaParty.org http://grassrootstexans.net/pages/home/ http://www.westernjournalism.com/ January 21st,2012 Fellow Texans, I ask myself why Americans are not able to see, what is taken place in our country, base on my own research, I found that; today Americans are less political inform than 50 years ago, in effect political ignorance has grow and as a consequence, government power has mushroomed and become corrupt and inefficient. The average citizen comprehension of government function and responsibility, is very low; we are in a civic crisis, the citizens knowledge of information about public affairs must improve to avoid the continuation of this government corruption and deception.The question is, has America already reached the point at which elections are mere contests of demagoguery and bathos?. I hope not, even if many or most people know little about government, the people will be eager to learn; I think that we trust our government so much, that we neglected our civic responsibility, now that we are in this crisis, the people will learn and will be part of this revolution to take our country back. Honesty and integrity builds trust, is that simple; can we learn and practice these principles?. We are the solution a nation is build from our families and community, we must take the responsibility of reclaiming these principles that made our country great. I pray to God, to give us the wisdom to learn and work in unity to save our country. Expose and Stamp out corruption it's our duty.Please pass this on, Our Democratic Republic will died if we fail to educate ourselves http://regentsprep.org/regents/core/questions/questions.cfm?Course=ushg&TopicCode=2b http://www.causes.com/posts/744179